Tyrone Town Council, Planning commissioners and Tyrone Focus Group members got their first look March 8 at the upcoming development of the town’s 20-Year Comprehensive Plan. Due for completion by February 2007, the plan will address Tyrone’s current and future needs through 2027.

Jordan, Jones & Goulding consultants Jonathan Lewis and James Summerbell explained the process and took suggestions on a variety of items that town leaders said should be addressed as the plan is developed. In keeping with Georgia Dept. of Community Affairs requirements, Lewis and Summerbell explained that comprehensive plan components include categories such as economic development, transportation and infrastructure plans, open space plans, zoning ordinances, development regulations and community visioning.

“Our main task is to find out where you want to go in the next 20 years and help you develop the plan to get there,” Summerbell said.

The group was told that the plan process involved three components, including a Community Assessment, a Citizen Participation Plan and the Community Agenda. The Community Assessment will be completed by consultants and will include the inventory of a mass of data for plan categories that include population and economic development, housing and transportation, natural and cultural resources, land use and intergovernmental coordination. The Citizen Participation component will include citizen advisory meetings, presentations to the council and planning commissioners and a community visioning workshop for residents in September. Many in the group were adamant that a methodology be developed to include direct citizen input into the plan.

Consultants solicited and received input on a myriad of main issues to be addressed in the final plan. The exhaustive list included downtown development, transportation and traffic, approaches to zoning, density, crime, recreation, the aging population, mass transit, water resources protection and the impact of Ga. Highway 74 on downtown commercial activity. Other issues included infrastructure, public services, farmland preservation, a plan to maintain quality rural life, a methodology to pay for needed improvements and the character of the town in 2027.

Group members surfaced other issues that could be seen as either opportunities or challenges. Pertinent to the future, many said, was to maintain in Tyrone the character of what Fayette County once was and to explore ways to use growth to enhance the community. Some expressed consideration for a possible transformation of the downtown area akin to the concept being utilized at the Serenbe development in South Fulton County, where vast amounts of greenspace is provided by a denser concentration of intensely planned, mixed use development. Another suggestion dealt with exploring a way to limit growth to a small annual percentage. Though possible, said consultants, the idea is problematic unless the city could find a reason that would hold up in court.

Consultants will initiate the plan by compiling the Community Assessment component over the next two months.

Jordan, Jones & Goulding has developed comprehensive plans Coweta, Spaulding and Henry counties and the cities of Senoia, Covington, Hapeville and LaGrange.